Free To Air Vs FreeSat

ElecKtrA

Hey guys,

I know this question has been asked over and over again and i do apologise in advance

I've an MPEG 4 TV which is Soarview approved so naturally i'm getting the eight channels on the telly. I don't want to sign up with Sky or UPC because i don't want to spend €300 plus per annum, so i think the best option for me is to get a FTA or FreeSat system installed.......

and my question is:

I'm in between two minds about which one i should go for!! There appears to be more FTA installers (and therefore appears to be the more popular option) than there are FreeSat installers (in the Cork area anyway).

I would like to hear what peoples views are on both systems. At the moment i'm leaning more towards FreeSat but it is slightly more expensive

Any help at all would be much obliged

excollier

Freesat is a brand name for the British channels broadcast fta on Astra 2/1N.
The boxes have specifically grouped channels, a 7-day epg and automatically keep themselves updated.
FTA boxes can work with any satellite, can receive all the freesat channels too, but need periodic manual updates, only (usually) have a now /next epg. They are a little more flexible, but take more work to keep them up to date.
Generally speaking, only the receiver differs, the dish, lnb and cable will be identical, as most people are not after european broadcasts. The labour costs should be identical too.
Whichever you choose, get a HD/DVB-S2 model (i.e. Freesat HD) to get the best picture quality and wider range of channels.

Extinction

Freesat is much better and in my opinion far superior to free to air. It's true that there are not many installers in Cork that install freesat receivers but there are a few and to be honest the difference in cost is very little.

PogMoThoin

Freesat is a UK branded product. It is a joint venture between ITV and BBC and is aimed at the UK only, it's their Saorsat, the satellite option for those people who can't receive a signal with an aerial. As we can see the same satellites here in Ireland it will work here, but you must select a UK postcode on the Freesat box and it will set itself to that region. Freesat boxes have their own 7 day epg and they do series link.

bmaxi

As a layman who has both Freesat and FTA boxes, IMO the only real advantage Freesat has over FTA is the 7 day EPG and the automatic updating of channel lists. FTA will allow you to scan whatever channels you want rather than what is decided by Freesat and at the moment I have three reasonably decent channels on my FTA system that I can't get on Freesat; if however channels change frequencies they have to be physically scanned back in. All in all I'd be happy enough with FTA.

Extinction

You can add non freesat channels to freesat boxes.

Balmed Out

Extinction wrote: »

You can add non freesat channels to freesat boxes.

Really? Is it easy? What would the advantage of a free to air be over freesat then?

paultf

Balmed Out wrote: »

Really? Is it easy? What would the advantage of a free to air be over freesat then?

There was a thread recently about how to customise the humax to add non-freesat channels to the 'menu' (I think) making them more accessible.

I know with a manhatton to can mix freesat & non-freesat and access them via the favourites button.

Not all freesat boxes are that good with non-freesat. With the echostar you have to press 4/5 button to get to non-freesat channels.

A question I was going to ask: which has the better picture quality?

recyclebin

Balmed Out wrote: »

Really? Is it easy? What would the advantage of a free to air be over freesat then?

FTA boxes are probably cheaper. You can also arrange the channels in any order you want. There is also the option to add other satellites for foreign football subscriptions.

Extinction

Balmed Out wrote: »

Extinction wrote: »

You can add non freesat channels to freesat boxes.

Really? Is it easy? What would the advantage of a free to air be over freesat then?

This is one example of how to add a non freesat channel on a freesat box.
http://techno-vision.es/?p=621

xxyyxx

For ease of use I'd go for a twin tuner Freesat PVR

excollier

xxyyxx wrote: »

For ease of use I'd go for a twin tuner Freesat PVR

I have the Humax freesat+ and with modded software it can add non freesat channels to the freesat epg, and acts as a media server through the house, can be accessed from anywhere on the internet and programmes recorded on it can be watched on line. Not expensive either.
Who needs Sky these days?

bmaxi

Extinction wrote: »

You can add non freesat channels to freesat boxes.

True but they can be a pain to access on some boxes, they are on mine, plus you still have no EPG. I bought the Ariva 250 combi box recently, great piece of kit and less than 85 euro delivered.

Extinction

bmaxi wrote: »

Extinction wrote: »

You can add non freesat channels to freesat boxes.

True but they can be a pain to access on some boxes, they are on mine, plus you still have no EPG. I bought the Ariva 250 combi box recently, great piece of kit and less than 85 euro delivered.

On some boxes yes but on the freesat boxes I use the non freesat channels are listed with the freesat channels so there's no problem accessing them. Unlike the ariva where you only have now and next programme information on all satellite channels, a freesat box has 7 day listings on all channels except the 1 or 2 free to air that might be added.

mike65

excollier wrote: »

I have the Humax freesat+ and with modded software it can add non freesat channels to the freesat epg, and acts as a media server through the house, can be accessed from anywhere on the internet and programmes recorded on it can be watched on line. Not expensive either.
Who needs Sky these days?

people who want to watch subscription channels.

excollier

You pays your money, you takes your choice. I ditched Sky before they went digital.
I think a tv license is expensive enough, without funding Mr. Murdoch's lavish lifestyle.
But, horses for courses, I guess. There's enough for me fta, and no recording fee, unlike Sky+.
Each to their own.

Schorpio

If you're only interested in English-langauge stations (which I presume you are!), then I'd go for Freesat over FTA. While it is true that there are some FTA channels not on Freesat, there are not many actually worth watching (imo! - and you can add them to freesat boxes, even if they can be kinda awkward to get at). The 7 day epg, no rescans and ease of use would make me pick freesat every day of the week.

I'd get a freesat+ HD box. In particular I'd recommend the Humax Foxsat HDR. It's not cheap, but it's an excellent bit of kit.

Just having a poke round the net, satellite.ie does a full freesat installation for €519, and while they don't install in Cork, I have had good experience with them and Tony is an active member on htis forum so I reckon the €500 mark is what you'd expect to be paying for freesat+ HD from scratch (though I think they use a different box, but it's at the same price point as the Humax).

I would never normally encourage anyone to sign up for Sky (the opposite in fact!) but I saw this thread over in Bargain Alerts today, and it might suit your situation. You get free sky+ box and set up, and half price for a year. If you just take the standard entertainment pack, then that's €12.50 for 12 months = €150. You can cancel after a year, unplug your sky box and replace it with a freesat one. If you choose the Humax, which is available today for €250~260 from amazon, then your total cost would be approx €410 (and you'd be hoping that the freesat boxes might come down a little in price over the 12 months). In essence you'd be paying Sky for your dish and installation and getting 12 months of paid telly out of it.

If you don't want to go near Sky with a 10 foot pole, fair enough. But it's an option at least.

Extinction

If you did get a Humax from amazon for €260 I'm sure you could find a competent local installer who would supply and fit a dish and quad for €150 max, total cost would then be no more than €410. You could go the sky route but if it was me I wouldn't have a sky installer anywhere near my house. Just sayin!!

Schorpio

Extinction wrote: »

If you did get a Humax from amazon for €260 I'm sure you could find a competent local installer who would supply and fit a dish and quad for €150 max, total cost would then be no more than €410. You could go the sky route but if it was me I wouldn't have a sky installer anywhere near my house. Just sayin!!

Yeah, that's the point I'm making. The €150 can either be spent on an installer, or get Sky tv for a year and they'll install. Plus you'd get the paid range of entertainment channels for a year, and you could even sell the Sky+ HD box if you wanted to make some money back.

Fair point on the installers though. I'd take an ISAA member any day of the week over a Sky installer. That said, I'm sure there are plenty of decent installers working for Sky too.

boccy23

Not sure if it helps, but recently ditched Sky and got a HUMAX HDR Freesat system. Best decision ever. It was a simple install which i did myself. Needed to make some adjustments for dual feed on the box itself but simple out.
Sure there are a number of issues which we had to get used to. The Sky remote is far better. The handling of Favourites is better.
But the recording and series link facility, 7 fay EPG is at least as good and I've yet to have a failed recording. Also, can now record all the ITV channels plus the 2 BBC HD channels.
I do miss the National Geo channels but not enough for me to fork out the €31.75 per month. I got the box for €200- from an installer so looking at a 6 month period and then it's payback over Sky.

BullBauld

Where did you get the box Boccy23? Pm me if you don't want to mention here.
Thanks

eirman

excollier wrote: »

I have the Humax freesat+ and with modded software it can add non freesat channels to the freesat epg, and acts as a media server through the house, can be accessed from anywhere on the internet and programmes recorded on it can be watched on line. Not expensive either.

Hi excollier ... Can you give me more info on this modified software.
Thanks

STB

eirman wrote: »

Hi excollier ... Can you give me more info on this modified software.
Thanks

I presume its the one from Raydon on the Hummy/Avforums.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/freesat/1661195-media-file-server-bundle-foxsat-hdr-release-4-0-part-3-a.html

excollier

STB wrote: »

I presume its the one from Raydon on the Hummy/Avforums.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/freesat/1661195-media-file-server-bundle-foxsat-hdr-release-4-0-part-3-a.html

Yes, correct. Plenty of reading, but if I can manage it, then anyone can:)

Macy0161

ElecKtrA wrote: »

I would like to hear what peoples views are on both systems. At the moment i'm leaning more towards FreeSat but it is slightly more expensive

Any help at all would be much obliged

If you're happy with seperate channel lists, i.e. Irish stations on the TV, UK stations on a seperate box, I'd go Freesat. And freesat+ at that. The only advantage I can really see of FTA would be if you wanted a single channel list and went for a combo reciever.

We have the later, and we're used to using online TV guides at this stage, so the lack of epg doesn't really bother us.

excollier

Well I use Freesat+ and a FreeviewHD receiver for Saorview, I like to see a big heap of confusing remote controls beside me (not).
We don't watch RTE etc. more than once a week at the moment, the Freesat+ is very good.

Stinicker

Freesat is a far superior product,

Free to Air satellite boxes are a nightmare to tune and your channels will be scattered all over the place and not neatly linedup unless know how to use a channel editor, which 99% of lay people won't. You have only now and next epg and for unless you intend using a foreign tv service, eg. Polish tv etc. then a Free to Air box will be a waste of time and money as the frequencies change very often and they are often used by "bob the builder" installers so they can come back six months later to retune the box and charge a call out fee etc.

A branded FREESAT box will always retune itself and has red button functionality and a 7 day epg.

Freesat boxes are also even cheaper that a FTA box, you can buy a standard definition Freesat box in Argos in the UK or Northern Ireland for £28/€37 which would be grand for a bedroom, smaller tvs or if you don't have high-def tv yet.

You can get a Freesat HD box for £69.99/€90 which is similar pricing to a FTA box but is a far easier product to use and much more user friendly.

There is even a Freesat+ product available which is a recorder and works similarly to how Sky+ works, quite simple to use and user friendly. A FTA box is none of the above for your typical technophobic Irish person. Matter of fact an old Sky box without a subscription which displays the BBC channels is also a better bet than one of those FTA boxes as it will give you a 7-day epg also and you won't have half a million unwanted BBC regional variations and ethnic channels clogging up the place also.

Extinction

I'd also add that the bob the builder type installer has a nasty little habit of pretending it is a simple task to retune a box when channels change frequency or making a person feel there is something wrong with them if they think it might be a little too difficult for them to manage. The truth is that it is difficult to retune or organize channel listings if you are not technically minded, elderly people often have trouble too. As an installer I often get calls too from younger people who can't manage it and are unable to contact the installer who has left them high and dry after promises of simplicity. Some would have you believe it is also simple to dowload channel lists to a usb key and load them. Again that is only easy for some people.

Freesat is a fantastic product and the extra you get with a freesat box make it a worthwhile investment.

St Senan

I have found that most of the BOB's and Handy man installers down this way change the pre-set 4 digit pin number to make it next to impossible for anyone but them to retune these FTA boxes.

xxyyxx

Navarre wrote: »

I have found that most of the BOB's and Handy man installers down this way change the pre-set 4 digit pin number to make it next to impossible for anyone but them to retune these FTA boxes.

Scumbags if they do that.

St Senan

xxyyxx wrote: »

Scumbags if they do that.

Seriously when I get calls from people asking why have they lost a dozen or so channels on a FTA system that they got from some guy who they cant get in touch with, the 1st thing I ask them to do is press menu then installation and enter 0000 or 1234 if they cant get pass this then all I can say is sorry I cant use that box.

Hotblack Desiato

Currently we have Sky, FTA and Freesat boxes in the house, feeding various TVs. Sky used to be the main box, on subscription, then we cancelled and used it on the free UK EPG for a while, then got a Humax Foxsat HDR to replace it on the main TV.

The Humax is just fantastic, to the extent we rarely watch live TV - just trawl the guide once a week, series link anything that looks interesting, and watch at leisure. Got it from Amazon. The remote isn't as as dumbed down as a Sky one, and needs to be aimed at the box (the Sky remote gives the impression it'd work through a wall :pac:) but it's good once you get used to it and can be used as a universal remote for the TV and up to two other devices as well. The box also lets you archive off recordings to an external hard disk so effectively there is no limit to how much stuff you can record. You select a 'home' BBC/ITV region but you can view and record any other regional variations just as easily as your default ones. And best of all it costs ZERO per month.

The FTA box is a piece of junk only fit for CBeebies in the playroom, and BBC Radio 5 when a match is on, even the now and next 'EPG' often doesn't work right on it :rolleyes: and rescanning, deleting 200+ channels of crap and then rearranging the wanted channels back the way they were is a right PITA. The major UK channels don't tend to move more than once in a year or two, but still it's a pain. I wouldn't recommend an FTA box for a main TV (unless you need it for foreign sats, but that's another story.)